Here are a couple of bite-size novellas sure to tempt you…

Bridget knows she isn’t beautiful; her ex made that point abundantly clear. So when her online-only romance suddenly leads to a real-life blind date, she beelines to the salon for a makeover. She’s dismayed and embarrassed when her usual stylist isn’t available and the sexy Javier steps in.

Javier has long been aware of the timid but kind woman, and vows to take this opportunity to make her see that she’s beautiful on the outside, as well as in. Will he succeed in keeping his own feelings at bay and style her sexy?

Billed as “a charming short story about beauty, the beholder, and believing in yourself” Chevrestt’s Style Me Sexy delivers on all accounts.  It’s only about 25 pages long, but I was hooked almost right away.  And because it caught my heart so easily, my biggest complaint is that it wasn’t longer – I think it would have been perfect if another handful of pages had been added so that we could have seen some of Bridget’s interactions with her online beau.  We get a good idea of what her ex did to her – she’s been beaten down a little but thanks to her friends and the possibility of a new relationship, she’s starting to come around again – but I think I would have liked to see why she thinks that this new guy could be “the one”.  And I think Javier’s character was just about perfect.  His interactions with Bridget, and his inner monologues, give us a great look into what makes him tick and why he may be falling for her.

If you need a quick distraction, something to give you that happy feeling, Style Me Sexy is guaranteed to be a fast pick me up that will put a smile on your face.

*****

Aspiring actress Anna Hilford might only have a small role in a leading television drama, but she longs to be dreamboat Karl Drake’s leading lady. Sick of being loveless and overlooked, Anna seeks the help of intuitive love coach, Lulu, from LuluTheLoveAngel.com to give her the courage and determination to follow her destiny.

But fate has different ideas, Lulu has undisclosed power, and Anna is about to realise that life happens while you’re busy making plans…

I thought maybe this was the first step in a new series by Juliet Madison and looking on her blog I find it is, but not quite how I thought it would be.  She says that if people like this story she’ll write others featuring Lulu, but I was imagining more about Anna and her family/friends.  It’s a cute, lighthearted story about a woman looking for love but missing what is right in front of her.  I really liked these characters, but being a bit over 50 pages there wasn’t a lot of space to get to know them all … I’m not sure if I’m supposed to like Karl or not – I did and I definitely would like to see more about him.  There were also tidbits about Anna’s sister and bad feelings between the two and I’d really like to see more on that.  I was hoping that maybe her sister would be the next story so we’d get more about Anna and her love as well as resolution to their sisterly drama.  Maybe there are plans in the works and Madison just didn’t share the details.

So, if you are looking for a cute, humorous, feel-good, quick read, then Star Struck in Seattle should be on your short list.  The story is sweet, the characters are fun, and I finished it with a smile too …. although I definitely had a need for more but without the guarantee that I’ll get it.